The Monongah mine explosion, the worst mining disaster in United States history, occurred on December 6, 1907 at Monongah, West Virginia. The blast spread through two of Fairmont Coal Company's mines, No. 6 and No. 8, connected underground. At 10:28 a.m., the earth shook as far as eight miles away, shattering buildings and pavement, hurling people and horses violently to the ground, and knocking streetcars off their rails . . . .

Monongah, West Virginia, is the site of the worst mine disaster in United States history. The Monongah tragedy occurred on December 6, 1907, when a series of explosion and fires wrecked two large coal mines there. The Fairmont Coal Company Mines No. 6 and 8, connected underground on the west side of the West Fork River, officially killed 361 miners, but unofficial estimates range much higher. Rescue workers from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio worked day and night for six weeks to recover the bodies. . . .

News of the infamous Monongah coal mine disaster on a black Friday, December 6, 1907 does not seem to have been covered extensively in the nation’s newspapers and magazines. At least, that is what our research shows. The Darr Mine explosion that followed two weeks later, on December 19, 1907, killed 239 miners at Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania; and this tragedy may have drawn attention away from the Monongah catastrophe. Moreover, since 1907 produced over 3,000 coal miner deaths—and over 700 alone in the month of December (the worst year in the U. S. history)—the public was probably becoming a bit calloused to reading the tragic stories. . . .

Monongah, in Marion County, West Virginia, lies at an altitude of 873 feet, about six miles south of Fairmont and spreads out on both sides of the West Fork River where Booth’s Creek—named after Captain James Booth—makes its entrance. . . .

Callahan, James Morton, Professor of History and Political Science, West Virginia University, Semi-Centennial History of West Virginia 1913 (Many photos, and maps); Genealogical and Personal History of the Upper Monongahela Valley, West Virginia, Under the Editorial Supervision of the Bernard L. Butcher, Volume II, 1912

General Offices of the Consolidation Coal Company, Fairmont Coal Company, and Somerset Coal Company, The Coal to Buy and How to Burn It, Being Practical Hints on the Selection of Coal for Present-Day Requirements 1903 (Many photos, and maps)

Hoehling, A. A., Disaster, Major American Catastrophes 1973

Husband, Joseph, A Year in a Coal-Mine 1911

Kaempffert, Waldemar, Editor, Volume II, A Popular History of American Invention 1924 (Many photos)

Kellogg, Paul U., a 19-page article titled “Monongah” in the January issue of Charities and The Commons 1908 (Several photos)

Mangano, Antonio, "The Effect of Emigration Upon Italy," Charities and The Commons, January 4, 1908 issue (Several photographs)

McAteer, Davitt, U. S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, Monongah, The Tragic Story of the Worst Industrial Accident in US History 2007 (Several photos)

Mitman, Carl W., Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection in the United States National Museum 1922 (Many photos)

Shaw, Albert, magazine editor, “The Greatest Coal Mine Disaster in our History.” the title of his February 1908 review in The American Review of Reviews of Paul U. Kellogg's January 1908 article titled “Monongah” in the Charities and The Commons, Vol. XIX, October 1907 through April 1908 (Many photos)

Shawkey, M. P., A. M. PedD., West Virginia, A Book of Geography, History, and Industry 1922 (Many photos, and maps)

Stose, G. W.; Swartz, C. K., Geologic Atlas of the United States, Maryland-West Virginia-Pennsylvania, Folio 179-Field Edition published by the Department of Interior, United States Geological Survey, 1912 (Several maps)

Talman, Charles Fitzhugh, "The Story of Coal" in The Mentor, May 1, 1918 (Several photos)

Textbook, History and Government of West Virginia 1915 (Many illustrations)